Detection of drug resistance markers for chloroquine and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine in Jazan area, Saudi Arabia using PCR and restriction digestion.

Nested PCR and restriction analysis were used to detect mutations at codon 76 of Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter gene (pfcrt) and codon 59 of dihydrofolate reductase gene (dhfr) that indicate chloroquine (CQ) and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (PYR-SDX) resistance respectively. P. falciparum isolates from malaria-endemic area of Jazan showed CQ resistance rate (89.5%), the highest percentage of chloroquine resistance ever recorded in Saudi Arabia. One the other hand, 10.5% of isolates showed a PYR-SDX resistant allele as a first reported in the kingdom. The use of molecular markers as additional tools to map areas of chloroquine resistance was expected to contribute in the development of new strategies for therapeutic intervention towards malaria in Saudi Arabia.